We will be in Portugal for our second time for 2 weeks, April and early May. Starting in Lisbon for 5 nights and ending in Porto for 4. We hope to day-trip to Douro while in Porto. In between we have 5 nights. We saw Obidos and Nazare last time. We have booked 2 nights in Tomar, and want to see Coimbra, but I must admit I am having trouble getting very enthused about Coimbra. Rick says it is Portugals most enjoyable city, but I don't really hear that much about it other than the library. What are some thoughts on the town? And does anyone have a place to stay there that they love?
Posted by
S.F. Bay Area, CA, United States
1878 posts
Good call to visit Tomar, the castle-monastery there is amazing. My wife and I stayed only one night Coimbra, on our 2008 trip, and we probably arrived around 3 p.m. and left by noon the next day. The library at the university was fine, not something I would necessarily go out of my way for. There are Roman ruins outside of town that are interesting, if very ruined, and somewhat hard to find. Coimbra is a very pleasant town, but not one that you "must see" as people say. There are medieval towers that you can go up into, and I thought that was really fun. The refreshing thing about Portugal is the so much less seems obligatory that in more highly touristed countries. You could think of Coimbra as the place to just slow down and enjoy being there, rather than indulging in goal-oriented tourism (actually Portugal in general is good for that). I did not see you mention Evora which is also quite a nice visit, and also Marvao as a day trip. We did a crazy detour the long way from Tomar to Evora on our visit to Portugal, and the memories from Marvao make me glad that we did.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
I thought 1 night was just fine. We visited the university and library and luckly enjoyed impromptu fado at a local cafe.
Posted by
OP
Calgary, AB, Canada
567 posts
Thanks for your thoughts. VS, we stayed in Evora last time and loved it. I was tempted to return, but we thought we should see some new spots. Any suggestions on places to stay in Coimbra? And what would you folks do with the other 2 nights? We could try to do the Douro first, or Guimares perhaps.
Posted by
Thailand
27 posts
How early in May? The Queima das Fitas (Burning of the Ribbons) university student graduation celebration runs May 5 - 12.
Posted by
OP
Calgary, AB, Canada
567 posts
I think the time we will be in Coimbra will be end of April unfortunately.